Simulation of Load –displacement Response of Pile Foundation Subjected to Lateral Loads at Wolaita Sodo Electric Power Transmission Converter Station
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Date
2021-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan and the Wenchuan earthquake in China are listed among the earthquakes
which cause collapse of transmission tower. Currently, in Ethiopia, there is an electric transmission
tower under construction on earthquake prone area, Wolaita Sodo. This transmission tower is expected
to carry electric current up to Kenya. Considering the effects that are going to be incurred if foundation
failure occurs, analyzing the effect of seismic loading will be vital for this project and further
constructions.
In this thesis, a 3D FEM analysis using ABAQUS software was performed to study the lateral
deflection of the foundation of the above mentioned electric transmission tower using a single
pile subjected to dynamic loading. 15 m long pile with varying diameters of 0.8 m and 0.6 m, keeping
other parameters constant has been considered.
For the seismic loading, probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) has been performed for the
specified area. Peak ground acceleration of 0.16 g and 0.233 g has been obtained from the seismic hazard
analysis for design basis earthquake and Maximum considered earthquake respectively. Acceleration
time history data has been obtained from PEER ground motion database.
Layered soil with Mohor-Coulomb soil model has been used. To consider the continuity of the ground,
the infinite boundary has been used. Scaled acceleration time history has been applied at the base of the
model.
The dynamic response of the piles resulted in deflections of 72.02 mm and 63.7 mm for 0.6 m and 0.8
m diameter piles respectively, which exceed the acceptable limits of recommendations. Increased pile
size shows reduction in deflection and increment on soil resistance. The displacement of the pile while
going from top to end shows reduction and this result agrees with literatures.
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Keywords
Load –Displacement, Pile Foundation, Wolaita Sodo Electric Power Transmission Converter Station, Lateral Loads